Bulldogs blank Tigers down stretch

6A-WEST BOYS FAYETTEVILLE 60, BENTONVILLE 53

BENTONVILLE — Fayetteville’s boys expect to get teams’ best shots, and Tuesday night’s game at Bentonville was no different.

The Bulldogs held the Tigers scoreless over the final 2:57 and scored just enough points late to win 60-53 at Tiger Arena.

The win keeps Fayetteville (24-3, 12-1 6A-West) tied for first place with Springdale Har-Ber (24-2, 12-1) in the conference standings with three league games remaining.

“Any road win’s a good road win,” Fayetteville Coach Brad Stamps said. “When you come to Bentonville and walk away and you feel good, it’s a big deal. What’s even bigger is it keeps us at the top and also eliminates another game off the schedule against a good basketball team. To hold them scoreless over the last 3 minutes was huge.”

Fayetteville led 33-28 at halftime after Jadyn Haney hit a three-pointer as time expired.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead by 12 points in the third quarter. Gaines, who missed much of the first half due to foul trouble, scored eight points in the third and Xavier Brown had six in the quarter. Fayetteville led 49-42 entering the fourth.

Bentonville (14-14, 6-8) cut the deficit to 49-47 early in the fourth after a three-pointer from Ma’aiki Dauda.

Dauda hit another three to cut it to 55-52. D.J. Hudson split a pair of free throws to go up 56-52 and Bentonville’s Elijah Wilhelm also hit 1 of 2 with 2:57 remaining for a 56-53 Fayetteville lead.

Bentonville wouldn’t score after that. Fayetteville didn’t get another field goal, but Jaxson Jorgensen and Brown each hit two free throws as the Bulldogs extended their lead.

Hudson led Fayetteville with 17 points, while Brown and Gaines each had 12. Jayvn Williams led Bentonville with 15 points, while Dauda had 12 and Wilhelm 11.

“There’s a reason they’re in the top two or three in our state and first in our league,” Bentonville Coach Dick Rippee said. “They’ve just got a lot of weapons, and I thought our guys battled really hard.”